


Where There's a Will

by Sadbhyl



Series: Teach Us Things Worth Knowing [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Gen, Potterlock, Snape would not approve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-08
Updated: 2013-08-08
Packaged: 2017-12-22 19:56:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/917412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sadbhyl/pseuds/Sadbhyl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The new Potions instructor doesn't seem impressed with his accommodations.  But John has no idea how far the man will go to get what he wants...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where There's a Will

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably my favorite installment of this whole series so far. Oh, Sherlock...

Being back in Hogwarts felt like coming home.

Granted John had never been here when the place wasn’t crawling with students, but even with the passing of twenty years and the damage wreaked by the latest battle, the halls themselves hadn’t changed. Stone and glass were easily replaced, but the essence of the place was eternal, inviolate. He glanced up to see the afternoon sky warming the rafters of the Great Hall. Just as it always had. Just as it always would.

Still. When the time came for him to sit at the head table, to look out across rows and rows of students. That wouldn’t feel familiar at all.

But that was still more than a week away. In the meantime, John was busy getting his classroom ready, mastering his curriculum, making the changes Professor McGonagall had requested. In a lot of ways he felt like he was preparing for his own exams all over again, cramming as much information into his head in the next two weeks as possible, with his exam being the entirety of the school year. But the challenge of it was exhilarating.

He wolfed down a last bite of sandwich, washed it down with the last of his cold tea, scooped up his notes and headed back towards his classroom.

He was stopped in the entry hall by the sight of Argus Filch, red faced and nearly apoplectic, arguing with a tall, dark haired young man who looked barely old enough to have graduated himself. “Regardless of how it _was_ ,” the younger man insisted, his voice perfectly calm and a touch condescending in the face of Filch’s obvious rage, “there is no logical reason it needs to remain so.”

“Logical? LOGICAL?” John worried Filch was on the verge of giving himself an aneurysm. “Considering how often those brats blow up their cauldrons and foul the air, of course it’s _logical_ to keep them where they can’t do any damage!”

“The top of the North Tower would certainly seem to meet those requirements just as well as the dungeons do, and provide ample ventilation for when the students, as you so eloquently put it, ‘foul the air.’”

“There ain’t no storage up there!” Filch insisted.

“As I am using the former Potions instructor’s office, the Divination office is standing empty, and perfectly convenient to the classroom.”

“Well, I ain’t doin’ it! Not without an order from the Headmistress herself. We don’t got enough time for the repairs we already got on, let alone enough for a waste of time like this. The Potions rooms weren’t damaged none, so that’s where the classes stay.” Filch didn’t leave any time for the other man to continue arguing, pushing past him instead to march down the hall.

The younger man’s jaw clenched as he glared around after Filch’s retreating form. When he turned back, he met John’s eyes. “Fine,” he said, as though speaking to John. Then he, too, turned and walked off.

John looked back and forth between the two rigid, determined backs, confused and more than a little curious. Finally, he shrugged. "I guess it really isn't all that different, being a teacher. Filch still won't let you get away with anything."

*****

That evening was the first dinner of all the staff, and John was more nervous than he had expected. He'd studied under many of these teachers. Meeting them now as an equal was a bit unnerving. Which surprised him. He had no problem working with peers and even superiors at St. Mungo's. Location made all the difference. He had been a child here, and it would take him a while to remember that he wasn't one now.

He tugged disconsolately at his robes. He should have made a trip to Madam Malkin's for new robes, but this would have to do. He didn't have money for new robes, anyway. He would make the trip into Hogsmeade when he had a few galleons saved up and do it properly. In the meantime, his old ones would have to do.

With a last, fortifying breath, he headed down to the Great Hall.

He met Professor Flitwick in the entry hall. "John, my boy! How excellent to see you! When Minerva told us you would be joining the staff, I was so pleased."

John flushed in pleasure. "It's good to see you again, Professor."

"Filius, my boy, please!"

"Filius. Sorry."

"No need, no need. I remember my first day teaching. Thought I'd never fit in. But here I am, how many years later. You'll be--"

Whatever he was about to say was interrupted by a thudding boom that shook the entire castle. Both Flitwick and John had their wands in hand in a thrice, searching for the direction of attack. Several of the other professors joined them, equally armed.

A black, acrid smoke slowly seeped into the hallway from the stairwell to the dungeons. A moment later, a tall, lanky shadow rose up out of the smoke as well, resolving itself into the young man John had seen earlier. Without pausing, he walked up to Professor McGonagall, his face smudged with soot and reeking of something inhumanely foul. "Professor, I regret to inform you that there has been a rather catastrophic accident in the Potions classroom. I estimate it will take approximately a month to render it safe for use again."

"A month?" McGonagall gaped at him. "Professor Holmes, classes start in ten days!"

"A shame. I suppose I'll have to find alternate space in the meantime. I understand the Divination Tower is currently available. When's dinner? I'm starved." Still looking perfectly innocent, he swept into the Great Hall, his robes flaring out behind him.


End file.
